Safety device for suspended passenger ropeways with two pull ropes



March 13, 1934. c. RUDOLPH 1,950,521

SAFETY DEVICE FOR SUSPENDED PASSENGER ROPEWAYS WITH TWO PULL ROPES FiledApril 3. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1,950,521 SAFETY DEVICE FOR SUSPENDEDPASSENGER ROPEWAYS WITH TWO PULL ROPES H P L C D U R c Filed April 3,1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 13, 1934 SAFETY DEVICE FOR SUSPENDEDPASSENGER ROPEVVAYS WITH TWO PULL ROPES Curt Rudolph, Leipzig, GermanyApplication April 3, 1930, Serial No. 441,392 In Germany April 26, 19295 Claims.

This invention relates to a safety device on passenger suspendedropeways with two pull ropes, consisting in that with utilization of theknown compensation rope discs arranged at the 5 driving station apermanent tension control of the pull ropes is carried through duringthe service, the service being interrupted, when inadmissibly hightensions or differences in length or sinking of the safety degree occursin one pull 1O rope or in both pull ropes.

The dependence on the secure working of the catching device built intothe running gear in case of breakage of rope, and the impossibility toforesee what will take place if the catching device 16 engages duringthe travelling at high speed, the pull rope being not damaged, are andremain sources of danger for suspended passenger ropeways operated withonly one pull rope. To avoid these sources of danger, the ropeway musthave 20 two pull ropes.

This invention has for its object, to ensure on such ropeways a mostextensive continuous and automatic controlling of the moved ropes, andthereby to avoid any dependence on the auto- "matic catching device.

An embodiment of the invention is diagrammatically illustrated by way ofexample in the accompanying drawings in:

Fig. l in side elevation and in Fig. 2 in top plan view of the safetydevice.

Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig. 1 showing diagrammatically theconstruction of the switches.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of Fig. 3.

The suspended cars travel on strong carrying cables not shown in thedrawings, which are stretched in the air being anchored at one end andconnected to a stretching device at the other end. These cables arestationary and rest on frames, the so-called aerial ropeway supports,

which are erected at relatively great distances apart according to thenature of the ground. The suspended cars are moved up and down orbackwards and forwards on these cables by two pull ropes 2 2 These ropesare connected to 'the suspended cars and pull them along when the pullropes are moved.

The two pull ropes 2 2 lead from the running gear of the suspended caron the one way side over the driving element (see Fig. l) to the runninggear of the suspended car on the other way side. The guide ropeconnecting the cars at their lower end is guided over a rope stretchingpulley in known manner. A separate connecting rope is provided for eachpull rope. The action of the 131111 rope on the running gear on the onehand and on the other hand the action of the connecting rope are movableand provided by means of a two-armed lever, in order that in the eventof breakage of a pull rope no eccentric action movement is formed forthe unbroken pull rope or the running gear.

The guiding or the pull ropes z and 2 in the driving station is asfollows:

Pull rope 2 coming from the car is guided over the compensator disc (1'to the upper groove of the driving pulley :r, thence to the compensatordisc :1 and over this disc to the track or to the other car.

Pull rope .2 comes from the car over the compensator disc or to thelower groove of the driving disc at, thence to the compensator disc aand from the same to the track or to the other car.

The compensation rope discs a to a are in a known manner mounted oncarriages shiftable in horizontal, inclined or vertical direction.

The compensating discs are further positively connected in pairs bycompensating ropes, i. e. in the form of construction shown, thecompensating discsa and a by the "compensating rope s and thecompensating discs 11 and a by the compensating rope 3 The compensatingropes s, s are conducted over pulleys u, 11. for changing the directionof ropes.

The compensating discs a to a act like automatic weighing devices of thetensions in the pull ropes on the two track sides. Each difference oftension in the pull ropes is indicated by these discs. When tensiondifferences occur, the compensation discs try to compensate, by forwardor backward shifting, the disc on which the pull rope having the greatertension acts, unwinding rope,

i. e. moving forward, whereas the disc under less 4 high tension haulsrope, i. e. moves backward. The discs act therefore in opposition to thetension differences.

This operation of the compensation discs known per se is utilized,according to the invention, to control a device, which stops the serviceof the ropeway at inadmissibly high pull rope tension, at lengthdifferences or at lowering of the 100 safety degree in one or both pullropes.

With this object in view one or several switches r to r are arranged atthe extreme positions of the carriage-guide for the several compensationdiscs on to (L The stroke of the compen- 1055 sation discs is limited toa certain measure, permitting of normal tension differences. If then thepull rope is stressed to an impermissible extent, for example by thepull rope encountering any obstacle on the way (getting hooked on the119 construction) or as the second pull rope stretches inadmissibly, thepair of compensation discs answering thereto will move into its extremeposition and positively operate one of the extreme switches, whereby themotor is cut out and the ropeway stopped.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, .all the switches r'-r are of the sameconstruction. On the shiftable bearing block of each of the compensationrope discs a to a projections t are provided which project downwardly inorder to act against the oscillatable contact. If one of thecompensation discs passes into its extreme position, that is when therope is overstressed, the projection 1. comes into contact with theoscillatable contact and presses same to one side so that the circuit isbroken.

The extreme switches r to r arepreferably arranged so that they comeinto engagement before the compensation discs have arrived in theirextreme positions, so that up to the stopping of the ropeway the tensiondiiferences cannot exert any effect upon the running gear of the car.

As stated above the problem is, to stop the service of the ropeway whentoo high tensions occur or the safety degree sinks in the one or otherpull rope. The case can be further imagined, that both pull ropes gethooked on any stationary point on the ropeway, so that the tension inboth ropes remains equal, but becomes too high, wherefrom results thedanger of breakage of a rope. In this case the compensation discs can nolonger operate. According to the invention the overstressing of the pullrope is utilized also in this'case to automatically stop the service.

The compensation discs will, as already mentioned, not move in thiscase, but the tension in the compensation ropes s, s respectively willincrease with the tensions in the pull ropes. The pressure exerted bythe guide pulleys for changing direction of rope u, a respectively,around which the compensation ropes are guided, against their abutmentbecomes greater proportional to their increasing tensions. These pulleysfor changing direction of rope are therefore mounted on springs, or thelike, acting in the direction of the rope pull. If the tension in thecompensation ropes becomes inadmissibly high, the springs of theabutment are for instance com- :pressed so'that a contact is closed,which .cuts

out the motor and stops the ropeway. The switch for the-reversing.pulleys .u and U2 are similarly arranged to those of the compensationrope discs aa This permanent automatic tension control makes it almostimpossible that a rope breaks suddenly, and it ensures further the.desired in- .manently automatically controlling the tension of the pullropes during service, and means for stopping the service wheninadmissibly high tensionsor differences of length or sinking of thesafety degree occur in one pull rope or in both pull ropes.

2. A safety device as specified in claim 1 comprising in combinationwith siftable compensation discs, switches at the points of extremeposition of the compensation discs adapted to be operated by said discswhen shifted into the extreme position so that the motor is cut out andthe ropeway stopped. Y

3. Asafety device as specified in claim 1, comprising in combinationwith shiftable compensation discs, a switch at the point of extremeposition of each compensation disc adapted to be operated by thecorresponding disc when shifted into the extreme position so that'themotor is cut out and the ropeway stopped.

4. A safety device as specified in claim 1, comprising in combinationwith shiftably mounted, compensation discs connected in pairs, twocompensation ropes, one for each pair of compensation discs, resilientlymounted pulleys for changing direction of rope, one for each pair ofcompensation discs, at a certain distance behind each pair of discs forconducting the corresponding compensation rope and adapted to be shiftedin the direction of the rope pull by the tensions in the compensationrope so that the service is stopped when in both pull ropes inadmissiblerope tensions occur.

5. A safety device as specified in claim 1, comprising in combinationwith shiftablymounted, compensation discs connected in pairs, twocompensation ropes, one for each pair of compensation discs,'pulleys forchanging direction of rope, one for each pair of compensation discs, ata certain distance behind each pair of discs for conducting thecorresponding compensation rope, a resilient bearing for each pulley,contacts, one behind each resilient bearing adapted to be closed by saidbearings when inadmissably high tension occurs in both compensationropes so that the motor is out out and the ropeway service stopped.

CURT RUDOLPH.

